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The Role of Transcranial Doppler in Cerebral Vasospasm: A Literature Review

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Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Part of the book series: Acta Neurochirurgica Supplement ((NEUROCHIRURGICA,volume 127))

Abstract

Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) is a noninvasive technique used to detect vasospasms following a subarachnoid hemorrhage. While the gold standard to evaluate vasospasms is angiography, this technique is invasive and poses additional risks as compared to TCD. TCD is performed by insonating circle of Willis arteries to measure cerebral flow velocity. TCD allows dynamic monitoring of CBF-V and vessel pulsatility, with a high temporal resolution. It is relatively inexpensive, repeatable, and portable; however, the performance of TCD is highly operator dependent and can be difficult, especially with inadequate acoustic windows. This review summarizes the use of transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) for the assessment of cerebral vasospasm.

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Abbreviations

aSAH:

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

BA:

Basilar artery

CBF:

Cerebral blood flow

CT:

Computed tomography

CTA:

Computed tomography angiography

DCI:

Delayed cerebral ischemia

DSA:

Digital subtraction angiography

ICA:

Internal carotid artery

LR:

Lindegaard ratio

MCA:

Middle cerebral artery

mFV:

Mean flow velocity

MRA:

Magnetic resonance angiogram

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

SAH:

Subarachnoid hemorrhage

SR:

Sviri ratio

TCD:

Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography

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Sharma, S., Lubrica, R.J., Song, M., Vandse, R., Boling, W., Pillai, P. (2020). The Role of Transcranial Doppler in Cerebral Vasospasm: A Literature Review. In: Martin, R., Boling, W., Chen, G., Zhang, J. (eds) Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. Acta Neurochirurgica Supplement, vol 127. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04615-6_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04615-6_32

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